Natick Rep. David Linsky: It's time to stop 'frivolous' complaints

Henry Schwan hschwan@wickedlocal.com @henrycojo

Thursday

Dec 6, 2018 at 1:00 AM

Wellesley resident Ron Alexander filed 603 Open Meeting Law complaints against the Natick School Committee since February. State Rep. David Linsky, D-Natick, said it's time to close loopholes in state laws that make such a scenario possible.

NATICK - In wake of a Wellesley resident filing more than 600 Open Meeting Law complaints since February against the Natick School Committee, as well as several dozen similar complaints and requests against the town, a state lawmaker plans to file legislation to close what he called "loopholes" in the state's Open Meeting and public records laws.

State Rep. David Linsky, D-Natick, said the loopholes have led to an abuse of the process.

“I am extremely concerned about the amount of taxpayer dollars the town of Natick, the selectmen’s office, the School Department and the clerk’s office have expended on the number of frivolous Open Meeting Law and public records complaints filed,” said Linsky, D-Natick.

Local officials say they are at the end of their rope with Ron Alexander, the Wellesley resident who has filed the numerous complaints.

“The School Committee believes that no substantive violations have occurred and the remedies that you are seeking to obtain are inappropriate,” a School Committee letter to Alexander reads. “Given the number of complaints you have filed, it is clear you are not looking to remedy any violation of the Open Meeting Law, rather you are simply looking for a forum to harass and air your grievances against the School Committee.”

Linsky said he’s still working on the bill’s language, but plans to file it during the next legislative session.

Alexander seemed unfazed by the prospect.

“(Linsky) is a politician, and a politician will say whatever he needs to say to make their constituents happy,” Alexander said.

“All I ever wanted was for the the School Committee to admit it broke the law, apologize, and stop breaking the law,” Alexander said when asked why he has filed hundreds of complaints.

In an email to the Daily News, the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts said it will carefully review Linsky’s bill when it’s filed.

“ACLU works closely with stakeholders and legislators to ensure that people have access to important information about how their government works and can actively participate in government meetings open to the public. In the next legislative session we will keep an eye on bills relating to these issues.”

The ACLU is co-counsel for Corey Spaulding and Karin Sutter, former Natick residents who sued the School Committee in April, claiming its "public speak" policy is unconstitutional. Public speak is the portion of the committee's meeting when members of the audience can speak about topics not on the meeting agenda. Last month, a Middlesex Superior Court judge ruled that portions of the policy violate state free speech rights.

Alexander said he is considering contacting school committees statewide to gauge their interest in a class-action lawsuit against the Massachusetts Association of School Committees. The MASC has advised committees that use the public speak policy, Alexander said, and should be held accountable in court.

“(Alexander) and I have something of a history,” MASC Executive Director Glenn Koocher said. “There are a lot of people who regularly file litigation against other people, and we will deal with it as it comes up."

Linksy said he intends to close a loophole in the public records law. Posting requests and responses on a website for public dissemination exempts a citizen from possible restrictions, even if the state supervisor of public records says the requests constitute harassment and intimidation. Alexander maintains a website – natickpublicrecords.weebly.com.

“We need to close that loophole,” Linsky said.

Linsky said his bill could include language that a town can petition the state attorney general to stop responding to a citizen's OML complaints once a certain number is reached. The AG would have to rule that the complaints constitute harassment or intimidation.

The Natick School Committee plans to ask state Attorney General Maura Healey to dismiss all of Alexander’s complaints because no laws were broken, according to a Nov. 29 letter to Alexander from Assistant Superintendent Timothy Luff.

A mediator appointed by the AG’s office failed to resolve the dispute between the parties.

Alexander said he initially filed 200 complaints against the committee for a range of issues, including: failure to release meeting minutes and not posting the names of all parties in collective bargaining negotiations in executive session.

The 603 total was reached, Alexander said, after he re-filed many of the original complaints on two occasions because he was not satisfied with the committee’s response process.

Town Clerk Diane Packer said Alexander filed more than 50 public records requests with the town, and approximately a dozen OML complaints against selectmen and the Finance Committee, since February. Many relate to meeting minutes and legal invoices, Packer said.

Follow Henry Schwan on Twitter @henrymetrowest. He can be reached at hschwan@wickedlocal.com or 508-626-3964.